1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for recording, characterizing, and evaluating computer application usage.
2. Description of the Related Art
The explosive growth of information technology and increased industry dependence on computing resources will demand higher levels of computer literacy from the workforce. In addition, the rising demand for computer skills places an increasing premium on both computer literacy and an individual's ability to adapt his or her skill-sets quickly.
As used herein, the term "target application" refers to a computer program or application which a user desires to use or learn to use. Target applications include, for instance, editors, word processors, spreadsheets, browsers, Computer-Aided Design, and the like. A "user" then, is a person that uses, or is learning how to use, a target application. An "application engineer", on the other hand, refers to a person experienced in using a target application, such as a programmer or content developer at a company or organization. In addition, the term "supervising application" is the primary program or application that is used to provide instruction to a user regarding a target application. "Application Player/Recorder" (APR) refers to an implementation of the device that interacts with target applications.
Various types of tutoring systems have been developed in order to teach users how to use a target application. Many target applications are themselves equipped with information that instructs the user on the use of the target application. However, these instructions are standardized, and are not designed to be customized by an application engineer. Moreover, since these instructions are particular to a single application, they offer no assistance to interaction between various target applications that are typically used by a user One type of intelligent tutoring system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,829 to Estes et al. ("Estes"), entitled "Method For Providing A Dynamic Tutorial Display". Estes was designed to train a user in the utilization of interactive software applications having dynamic displays. Sequences of selected operator inputs are recorded, along with the elapsed time between successive inputs. If a user requests assistance, the software application will respond in a manner identical to a response generated by human input from an experienced operator.
However, Estes is a technical assistant rather than an informed supervising application. Estes suggests an answer to a user's problem in the form of a voice or textual description. However, Estes does not evaluate the user's performance within a target application, and does not have the ability to graphically demonstrate how to perform an action within the application. Furthermore, Estes is limited to use with a single target application, so that it offers no assistance to users that are learning or interacting with multiple target applications.